


Ghost Boys- Analysis

by Gemini_Spark11



Category: Akira (Anime & Manga), Norse Religion & Lore, Original Work, Russian Royalty RPF
Genre: America, Chronic Illness, Dogs, Execution, Explosions, Gen, Harm to Children, Historical References, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Japanese, Japanese Culture, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Kaneda's Jacket, Poem Analysis, Police Brutality, Pre-Canon, Racism, Religious Content, Russia, Sainthoood, Sea-loving Narfi, The Red Square, Tokyo (City), Русский | Russian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:02:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27153572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemini_Spark11/pseuds/Gemini_Spark11
Summary: My explanation of the imagery and metaphors behind GB, for anyone who's interested.
Relationships: Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov & His Sisters, Vali & Narfi Lokason





	Ghost Boys- Analysis

**The First Verse**

The verse is about Kaneda, the main character of the anime film AKIRA. As this is describing a Japanese character, I felt it would be appropriate to do it in the traditional margin (right to left instead of left to right). Because it is the only verse that does this, it is the only one out of all of them to follow this rule. (With the exception of where he is referenced later on, but we will get to that later.) Unlike the film, he is already dead before the plot begins (as all the characters referenced in this poem, hence the title.) I don't give Kaneda his name, but I need a little clues in his verse as who he is (the aka (that means red in Japanese) jacket slung over his shoulders being the jacket he is most known for in the movie.)

"He knows he should be wearing shiro by now-but why mourn for yourself?-" Is a reference to the colour Japanese and Chinese people wear at funerals (white in English) once again affirming he is already dead. The swapping of the words "ghost" with "yokai" was another attempt to be culturally sensitive. The word "yokai" is the name for a ghost or Demon in Japan, a restless spirit, which is exactly what he is at this point.

"He is a victim of history repeating itself like a broken record" alludes to the explosion at the beginning of the original film. It is this mysterious AKIRA that did this. It is also a homage to the bombing victims of World War II (hence "… Broken record) as it feels like, that to him, Tokyo being destroyed again for someone's selfish gain. It may infer that this character witnessed the bombings, and they can't move on to the next world because of it.

**Second verse**

This verse could apply to any black boy who lived in America, and was killed by police brutality. I didn't give a specific name to the boy, as I wanted this verse to remain anonymous as it were, because I didn't want the verse to apply to a specific killing, as it is too widespread in America. The racism, that is. It is discussed in the beginning section of the verse, but is heavily implied near the end. "He died in the country where his only crime was the color of his skin." (I also use the American spelling of the word "colour" here instead.)  
  


**Third Verse**

This verse is the only verse about a real-life person, former Tsarevich Alexei Romanov. He, along with His sisters and parents was executed in the cellar of Ipaitev House on July 17, 1919 at 2 o'clock in the morning. Only recently, at the turn of the millennium, the little boy, His family, and a few of Their who were present at the time of the execution were elevated to the status of saints by the Russian Orthodox Church. They were given the title of patten-bearers, as they didn't die as a direct result of expressing their faith, but the family were extremely devout people. That is why all of Alexei's pronouns are capitalized. 

Historians, and those Alexei directly would describe Him as your typical 13 year old boy. That's why I used the verb "play" to describe His actions, as I wanted to capture the childish aspect of Alexei's nature.

"… With all the lost dogs…" Is a reference to how Alexei love having pets of all kinds. He favoured dogs. Using it in compound with the verb "lost" describes how the dogs He plays with are either looking for their owners and still alive, or dead like Alexei is. I leave that interpretation up to the reader.

"On stones built with His blood" is a reference to how the Bolsheviks killed Him and His Family to make way for communism.

"When He was alive, He was always so close to death" links with the precarious nature of Alexei's existence. The boy had haemophilia, a fatal disease which meant Alexei could die at any time if a wound refused to clot. He inherited it from his mother, who inherited it from Queen Victoria.

"He misses His sestry terribly, and wishes He could go home" is a reference to how the remains of Alexei's sisters have been found and identified. Alexei's remains have only been exhumed recently, on the other hand (in 2007). He cannot "go home" as his body has not undergone full funeral rites, and therefore cannot pass on to the next world. "Home" does not mean any of the palaces the boy lived in when he was alive, but heaven. "Sestry" is Russian for sisters. 

**Fourth verse**

This verse is inspired by primarily by Norse mythology, and unverified personal ginosis surrounding Loki's children. 

Many who who had befriended Narfi (I can count myself among those lucky people!) Believe that He is fascinated by anything to do with the ocean. I once read that one of His favourite places in the world is The Big Sur in California because it is surrounded by marine life and the like. As such, Narfi's verse 'takes place ' there instead of Norway (or anywhere else in Scandinavia) as you would expect it to.

The next few lines is basically Narfi's point of view of what happened in the Loksenna myth. For those of you don't know, this is where Loki insults the other Gods, kills Baldur, and, long story short, His Sons had to pay the price for Loki's crimes.

From the beginning, it is implied that the all of Loki's children face prejudice of some sort. "His only crime was being His father's son" and "being the son meant a fate worse than death" both demonstrate this, as the abstract noun "fate" suggests that they were predispositioned to die like this simply _because_ they are Loki's child. In the myth, it is unclear whether Odin knew what would happen to The Twins, or if he decided it in the spur of the moment. (The "snake" being Loki, because it is one of the many animals associated with him.

After this, it just describes what happened to Narfi. "His one true kin" is Vali, his twin brother. "One true kin" implies the closeness and the strength of the bond between them. They have many siblings, but because, to quote one of the brothers "twins are supposed to do everything together", Vali is the only one out of the seven that Narfi recognises as truly being his brother. "Tvilling" means twin in Norwegian.

"… A skin… Forced to wear" is a reference to how Vali shifted into a wolf against his will (as I like to think willing shape shifts aren't that painful) and killed Narfi.

The latter part of the verse is an exploration of his personality and how he interacts with me. " takes me places" demonstrates how we communicate through astral projection.

**Fifth & Sixth verses**

The last two verses picks out a single quality from each boy in the poem, and lists them in the order they appear in the poem. "Reksshi no seishin" is first. This means the spirit of history in Japanese. It implies that my version of the main character will hang about until the wrongs of history have been righted. It may not even be a real boy at all, just a Kami observing how their people are moving on from the tragedy.

"Everyday" is second. It pushes home how killings from police brutality in America happen every day.

"Royal" denotes Alexei's former status among Russian society before he was killed. Alexei was the Tsarevich, meaning he could count himself as a member of Russian royalty.

"Divine" shows Narfi's nature as an Aesir. He is a God of the northern paganism Parthenon.

The last verse acts as a warning to the reader. I don't want anybody who is alive right now to suffer the same fate as the boys in the poem.


End file.
